Plastic Man:
by ReiyaLiMoe
Summary: Sometimes, when he's all alone, Tony takes out the arc reactor and wonders whether it would be worth it to put it back in. A revised version of the original story by the same name. It's been two years and I believe I can do better. Still rated M for dark themes and possible adult content in the future


.:Plastic Man:.

By: Reiya Li

Chapter one: Open your eyes.

"It's quite late sir, you should acquire rest soon." Jarvis chimed over the speakers in the lab. Tony sat alone at his work station. It had to be pushing close to three in the morning by now but Tony still just sat. His eyes were heavy and his mind filled to the brim with paranoia. He chuckled at the machines advice and sloshed his drink around in his hand. "Sir I must implore tha-".

"Mute" Tony interrupted the AI before it could continue to nag him any farther. He stirred his drink around but never drank from it. He was too busy in deep thought. Thinking… Thinking, Tony has come to learn, is a dangerous hobby for him. Yes, Tony should never be left alone with just him and his own thoughts. "I know men with none of that worth ten of you" Tony chuckled bitterly to himself again after remembering the Captains words from when they'd first met. The Captain being Captain America of course; he was and always will be his father's greatest accomplishment.

Steve Rogers born July 4th, 1918, he became Captain America when he was twenty but was frozen in ice for 67 years. S.H.I.E.L.D had found him still alive inside the ice and thawed him out. Growing up Captain America had been all his father had ever talked about. Steve Rogers the skinny kid from Brooklyn was Howard Starks pride and Joy, not him.. not Anthony…

Setting his drink down, Tony leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers over his chest. He paused after his fingers drummed over the arc reactor. With a swift motion he pulled the end of his wife-beater up and with his right hand unlocked the arc reactor from its place in his chest. He gazed down at the soft blue light with heavy eyes. This was his heart; this little light was his life's work, his whole being existed inside of it. He had created an entirely new element for nothing more than to save his own selfish ass. Sure he had created a clean self-sustaining energy source but even then he had to go and use it for himself at "Stark" Tower.

He took a deep breath and smiled down at the little glowing light in his hand. He set it down beside the drink on his desk and leaned forward; placing his elbows on his knees. He ran his hands through oily hair when a voice came from across the room.

"Tony?" He shot up out of his chair at the sudden voice calling to him. Steve had come into his lab and between having Jarvis on mute and being lost in thought he hadn't even notice him enter. He held back a grimace as he wondered how long the man had been there.

"Uh, Hi Steve" Tony said as he fixed his shirt and hair quickly to look presentable for the Captain. They stood in silence for a moment. Tony felt awkward, growing up he'd always compared himself to Captain America to try and get attention from his father. Now that he was grown and was actually fighting side by side with the man; wouldn't that make him Captain America's equal? "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero". Tony swallowed hard as the words came back to him. Even now standing face to face with the man, Steve couldn't even look him in the eyes.

"Don't you need that?" Steve said and pointed to the small glowing device still sitting on Tony's desk. According to what he'd read on Tony's file he'd been hit with a shrapnel bomb and whatever that electrical thing in his chest was, it was keeping him kicking.

"Oh! Um.. I uh, I just finished making some adjustments, wires and the like". Tony lied, he quickly retrieved the reactor and lifted his shirt long enough to pop it back into place. A sigh of relief came to him as upon the arc's return he immediately felt better. "So" Tony chirped as to spark a new subject. "What brings you to the lab at this hour, come for some late night fun?" He winked and plastered on that fake shit eating grin.

Steve hid a blush at that comment and pursed his lips together. "It's Steve, and no, I well.. Still trying to get used to sleeping in a new place again; I couldn't so I thought I'd do a little exploration in the mean time." He rocked on his heels. Truth is he'd been wandering for hours trying to avoid the nightmares. "You don't mind right? I mean I appreciate you letting me stay in the tower while my apartments being reconstructed, I can just go back to my ro-"

"No no! it's fine, it's all fine." He began. " Steve wherever you want to go feel free." Tony intervened in the middle of Steve's sentence. How was this kid so polite? Well maybe he wasn't "exactly" a kid, he was like a ninety year old man… in a twenty-six year olds body, but whatever still, polite as polite could get.

"Alright" Steve nodded. "Thank you." The politeness in Steve's voice nearly made Tony puke but instead Tony had just decided it was time to just sleep off this stupor he was in. "Well Captain…" He paused. "Steve. I think I'm actually going to head up to bed now that I'm done with…" He gestured around. "My reactor and all" He looked back towards the Captain. "Have fun exploring." Tony walked towards the door behind Steve and patted the soldier's shoulder on the way past. As he reached the door the Captain's voice rang out again.

"What were you really doing, sitting there with the reactor out of your chest" Steve turned half around to look at Tony who was stopped just in front of the door, his back still to the blonde.

Tony had stopped, stomach churning and he hadn't even drank a sip of the alcohol he'd poured that night. "Uh like I said, I just had to make some adjustments." He turned around and put on his best poker face. "There were a couple wires twisted wrong an-"

"Tony…" Steve's voice came with a warning.

"Steve" Tony deadpanned back to the other man.

"C'mon Stark" Steve cocked his head to the side. "You really expect me to believe you were just down here" He raised his hands to do air quotations. "Fixing wires" He then turned fully towards the other man and gestured towards him. "In the thing that's keeping you alive during all odd hours of the night." The two stood in silence. "I may not be up to date with technology but I wasn't born yesterday Tony." He stepped closer to the dark haired man.

"Why don't you just mind your own business Steve" Tony put extra emphasis on the blonde's name and went to turn back to the door.

Steve stepped forward again and grabbed Tony's arm, turning him around to face him once more. "So what? You can pretend you're well?" Steve said in concern. "You can trust me Tony, we've fought together, I can help-"

"Listen. Steve." Tony said flatly. "You don't know me. You're just some guy who I have so graciously let stay in MY building and that S.H.I.E.L.D wants me to fight beside." Tony jerked his arm away from the man. "You're not my friend" Tony skewed. "You're not my advisor" He mimicked an official tone. "And you're not my fucking therapist" He finally snarled. "Now I am tired, if you haven't noticed it's like three in the morning and I." Tony gestured to himself. "Need my beauty rest" He gave the Captain a sarcastic smile then proceeded to turn and leave the lab.

Tony quickly headed up to his room. His chest felt tight, he was angry. Angry at himself, angry that he'd upset Steve, angry that he could feel everything. Why wasn't he drunk? Why hadn't he drunk in the two months since the battle with Loki. Drinking made everything feel better but everyone around him hated it. Even as he sat on the edge of the large circular bed, mini-fridge at the ready less than ten feet away he couldn't bring himself to drink. He'd been losing sleep, the nightmares were back, everything was worse without the bottle but he just couldn't bring himself to drink as he once again found himself leaning over, elbows on knees, head in his hands.

Tony lifted his head up when he realized his hands were wet. He was crying and it felt like shit. He didn't need friends. He had Pepper, Pepper did that for him. He didn't need to be friends with Steven Grant Rogers. The famous "Captain America" was probably too good for him anyways. Tony slid off the edge of the bed and sat on the floor with his knees up to his chest.

He was so tired of feeling this way. He'd built at least three new suits in two months and sketched out three more already. He'd been so paranoid and scared and angry. He'd tried to be friends with Steve because somehow in his twisted mind the idea of being close to Steve made him feel closer to his father. He took a deep breath that only lead to him crying out pathetically once more. He tore to his feet; peeling his shirt from his skin while cussing furiously under his breath and threw it to the ground. He ripped the arc reactor out and threw it across the room, successfully smashing the mirror on his dresser in the process. Blinded with rage and far too tired to think straight, he threw himself on the bed.

What if he just tried to be friends with Steve for just being Steve? It's not like he wore his Iron Man suit everyday and likewise with Steve. They could be perfectly normal people right? Tony swallowed and covered his wet eyes with his arm. He guessed he'd never know. He'd just fall asleep and fade away with the night sky. He closed his eyes, and he slept.

Steve had been walking back to his room, brows furrowed, angry at that asshole Stark. He'd almost gotten to his room when he straightened and decided to go back and give that brunette a piece of his mind. He'd gotten up to the other's door and was about to knock when he'd heard rustling from within and then a loud crash. He was stunned. Was Tony being attacked, it didn't sound like there was more than one person in the room. Steve just waited and listened… various sobs came from the room then after a while, nothing. He put his hand on the door knob and softly turned it. Finding that it wasn't locked he gently opened it. "Hello?" He said softly. "Tony?" The lights were dimmed low enough that Steve had to squint to make out the layout of the room.

From the corner of his eye he caught a light… a small blue breathing light. He softly walked across the carpet and winced when he cut his foot on a piece of glass. He leaned over fairly far and grabbed the reactor from its place on the ground then back tracked his steps as to not cut his feet more. He looked towards the bed to where Tony lay motionlessly. Hoping he wasn't too late he went over and knelt over the other. He felt for a pulse and was relieved when he found one. His eyes swelled with tears of their own. He couldn't let Stark die, he'd have nothing left of his former life without him. He'd let a good friend down if he didn't save his son.

He gently arranged Tony onto his back and placed the device back into his chest. Tony took a deep breath in his sleep and afterwards his body relaxed beneath Steve. Steve put an arm under Tony and gingerly held him up. "Tony, hey… You in there bud?" He said softly. He tapped the man's face. A small look of fright fell on his face, what if he had been too late and Tony was brain dead? His gut hurt, why had he waited so long? "C'mon Anthony, open your eyes." He shook the other man and held his breath as his eyes began to swell once more.

His breath burst from his lungs when in the dim lighting Tony slowly opened his eyes and soft brown iris' reflected against the light. "S..sss" Tony made a soft sound. Steve hushed him and laid him back down with his head on a pillow this time.

"It's all gonna be okay, just sleep now" Steve said softly and stood. He watched as Tony fell back asleep before turning and leaving the room. He returned to his own and sat with his back against the door. The world had changed and the only thing that kept him grounded was the he had a little bit of his past in Tony. Howard and Tony were nothing alike but he owed it to Howard to keep his little boy safe. Steve pulled himself up and stumbled to bed for a restless sleep.

...

All this feels strange and untrue  
And I won't waste a minute without you  
My bones ache, my skin feels cold  
And I'm getting so tired and so old

The anger swells in my guts  
And I won't feel these slices and cuts  
I want so much to open your eyes  
'Cause I need you to look into mine

Tell me that you'll open your eyes

...

Hello again after so long, two years ago I wrote a story called "Plastic Man" About Steve and Tony from the Avengers. The other day I was messing around and I found my own story back. I logged onto my account and was very shocked and flattered by all the wonderful reviews about my work. A lot of you were asking me to write more to this story and it truly touched my heart with how much you all liked my work. So without further ado I am glad to tell you that I will be revisiting this story, rewriting the old chapters and adding new. My goal is to bring the story up to date with all that's happened in the Marvel universe. Please enjoy the story as you once did~3

With love

~Reiya Li


End file.
